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Marco Da Pozzo has left us

Marco Da Pozzo died this morning after falling from the roof of the church steeple he was fixing at Cortina d'Ampezzo. An extremely talented climber and alpinist, Marco Da Pozzo was one of the most famous and highly regarded members of the Scoiattoli mountaineering club and Cortina d'Ampezzo Mountain Guides.

A moment, suspended. Then, that "have you already heard the news?" followed by a name... Marco... Marco Da Pozzo... And then, the painful details. The repairs carried out on the church steeple in Cortina. Perhaps the lightening conductor which broke off. Marco who fell down, the rope that held the fall, Marco who slammed against the wall. The first rescue attempts. The helicopter. The rescue. And Marco who failed to pull though, Marco who is no longer with us. Spring blossoms splendidly. And it all seems so absurd. So unfair. For Cortina and the Scoiattoli, too, who cry for another lost son.

Marco Da Pozzo would have been 44 in July. He was one of the most famous Scoiattoli of Cortina d'Ampezzo. In 1991 he had become a Mountain Guide, a profession he carried out with passion and which he truly believed in. He was rightly considered one of the most talented climbers and alpinists in the Ampezzo region, and also a great expert of working at height. It's also for this reason that his death leaves us speechless. He was a master at rigging and one of the most competent at rope access and working at heights.

Marco's love for climbing and mountaineering was deeply ingrained. All you needed to do was watch him climb to understand this: Marco really was in a league of his own, in love with climbing and his mountains. So much so that I've often heard his climbing partners saying that he was the most talented, the most able Scoiattolo. He proved this with his numerous first ascents and repeats, not only in his Ampezzo Dolomites. And he proved it by forming, together with his brother Massimo, one of the strongest climbing teams in Cortina and the entire Dolomites.

It's difficult to think of Marco without mentioning his family. Without remembering his father Luciano, he himself an extremely talented climber, he himself a member of the Scoiattoli group. Without remembering his brothers Massimo and Paolo. Their father Luciano had taught them how to climb, how to love the mountains and be men. And he had taught them how to share this love with others. This too is key to understanding how deeply Marco was linked to the Scoiattoli Group, to all its members.

I've always been struck by Marco's simplicity and at the same time his seemingly inborn elegance. So much so that, at times, he was also jokingly referred to as "the prince". Because Marco was a true gentlemen, in the truest meaning of the term. Always ready to overcome the difficulties, always ready to help. Marco was someone who helped you smile. Together with the Scoiattoli we will always remember that smile.